Flying the flag for Bastille Day in Reading: Vincent Valère and Muriel Charles

Share

With Reading’s Bastille Day weekend around 10 weeks away organiser Vincent Valère brought the woman who will be running a key part of it to town last week.

Normandy-based Muriel Charles runs France at Home, in which a group of traders cross the Channel almost every weekend to run French markets throughout much of the UK. She came to Reading on Friday to help plan the two-day event on July 12/13.

Miss Charles has taken the market to other European countries, but found few as successful as over here. Towns and cities such as Cambridge and those in the Thames Valley are among the best.

However, traders had feared a poor turnout at last year’s Bastille Day as the Forbury Gardens locations meant they lacked their familiar high street site, but the day went well.

Miss Charles said: “When [organiser] Frèdèric [Kayrouz] approached me last year I was quite sure it would be good, but the traders were quite worried. They are not worried that they are not on the high street now.”

Mr Valère said: “I was very happy with last year.”

Among other attractions being worked on is an attempt to get a French celebrity to attend.

However, although approaches are being made to well-known names, they remain under wraps.